Bender or Lambros?

Bender or Capone Etc

Fred Agnir said:
I think you need to hit with one. I'm thinking if the Southwest was too stiff for you, then the Lambros is the choice.

That being said, is there a reason why you wouldn't just get a cue from Pechauer or Gilbert (based on your list)?

Fred
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Cues are subjective. I have beaten the best and have played with many cues. I have beaten the best and won so many tourn I can't remember 1/2 of them playing with a broken butt old nastry looking sneaky Pete I purchased over 12yrs ago in a 4 cue 2 case deal. A GOOD player can play with ANY cue that has a good weight and balance and a GOOD SHAFT, furrel&tip. You can adjust the hit with the type of tip used. TRUE most cue makers will have a "signature hit" BUT don't hold your breath taking it for granted that every cue from any given cue maker is going to give you the same consistant hit. I have owned a beautiful Gus Szamboti that the hit was not to my liking. I have hit with other Gus cues that did hit to my liking. I have hit with SouthWest that hit very soft and not to my liking and I have hit with Southwest cues that hit fantastic to my liking. I have played with and beaten players with names that most of you guys worship WITH a HOUSE CUE OFF THE WALL. I have played with house cues that played fantastic. The TRUTH is that the cue DOES NOT MAKE THE PLAYER... The player makes the cue more or less.. YES I do prefer some cue makers over others. Mike Bender is a REAL cue maker who produces an excellent consistant hitting cue. The MOST IMPORTANT part of the cue is the SHAFT.. MOTHER NATURE plays the biggest role for the hit of a cue.. Mike Bender among others uses ecellent shaft wood all around that GREAT 4oz mark. Cues with light weight 3.2 and 3.4 shafts with low ring growth is a good clue that that cue is not going to have a firm solid hit. It's simple physics,, you need energy to produce energy and the shaft is what is transmitting that energy. The best thing is too actually FEEL the cue and play with it if possibile before buying. Not all cues by the same cue maker will be best for you. just because a cue is a Southwest or a Meucci etc does not always mean that cue is going to play good or play bad for you. YOU BUY A CUE AS AN INVESTMENT as well as for it's playability,, if you want a cue that will always bring back its value or rise in value you buy a good hand made cue like a Mike Bender or a Southwest etc. If your looking to save money and don't care about an investment or losing a little money on the cue than buy a good CNC production cue like a Schon or McDormott. If your really on a budget and don't care about a future resale and want the best playing cue, then buy any cue that feels good to you that you can play with within your budget. Look for good maple shafts with some weight behind them (4.0 oz or as close) or use one of the layered shafts. Most of the hit comes from the shaft, ferrule and tip. The butt playes a very small part of the hit. There are great hitting joints of all types from the piloted steel to the flat faced wood to wood. I have played with both that hit equally as good. I have beaten the best many times in straight, 9 ball ect etc and well known. A good player will play well with most any cue that has a good shaft and the proper balance/weight and feel for that player. The cue doen't make the player. the player is BORN and will play great with a house cue. Personally I would go after the Bender before Capone and especially a Lucasi. The Bender will be you most solid investment and is an excellent hand crafted cue. Bender goes way back with David Kersenbrock and Jerry Franklin. Jerry worked under Mike. Mike is a great cue maker who uses good shaft wood. A Mike Bender is not only a consistant good hitting cue but is a solid investment. You will always get your money back or the cue rise in value if you respect and take care of your cue. But you can cheaper cues that hit just as good but may not be as good as an investment. I say buy the cue with the investment in mind and not just for the hit. The hit is important but so is the cues resale value down the road. Mike Bender is a solid investment and will probably be worth much more in the future. A Capone may be a harder resell but still a nice cue. Does anyone know a guy named Richard Chen from BC Canada (poolcuecollector). If you do please contact me. Thanks
Wonderlan
 
Hold off for a week and I will have a new 5 Pointer from Mike Lambros,along with a high end cue from him. CUESNTHINGS.COM is officially a new Lambros Cue Dealer. JP
 
I don't know much about Capone or Lambros but I've bought two Benders in the last 5 years and love the hit and especially the precision in which Mike Bender builds all of his cues.

You can ask MIke to build a cue anyway that you want one. The stiffness of a cue has a lot to do with the taper and diameter of the shaft and you can spec that out anyway you see fit.

Mike is working on another "themed" cue for me and it should be ready shortly as he has been working on it for quite some time.

I am completely sold on Mike Bender, his worksmanship, his knowledge of playability and especialy his precision in building a cue. There are not many cue makers who compare equally with Mike's precision. His designs are to my liking as well. I don't care for super fancy designs like the Thomas Wayne Celtic type designs but my new Bender may be a little far out as far as cue designs are concerned but it will communicate a certain message. You may see it down the road.

Warm Regards,
JoeyA


cbi1000 said:
Hello,

I'm shopping for a cue and i thought i had my choice (Bender or Capone), but now i'm starting to hear a little about Lambros...

If you have either of these cues or have hit with both can you give me your opinion?

My cue history:
Cokers - Liked the way some hit, didn't like some.
Southwest - Little too stiff.
Pechauer - Nice hit.
McDaniel (ivory joint) - Nice hit, little too soft.
Gilbert - Very nice hit.

thanks,
Click to expand...
 
Wonderlan, you said a lot of true things about Mike Bender and his cues. My Bender cue is worth more today than I paid for it three years ago and I have had offers to that effect but had forgotten about the re-sale value. I am not a collector but use cues to play with but I keep my open for cues that play as well as my Bender or better.
Still looking,
JoeyA


wonderlan said:
Cues are subjective. I have beaten the best and have played with many cues. I have beaten the best and won so many tourn I can't remember 1/2 of them playing with a broken butt old nastry looking sneaky Pete I purchased over 12yrs ago in a 4 cue 2 case deal. A GOOD player can play with ANY cue that has a good weight and balance and a GOOD SHAFT, furrel&tip. You can adjust the hit with the type of tip used. TRUE most cue makers will have a "signature hit" BUT don't hold your breath taking it for granted that every cue from any given cue maker is going to give you the same consistant hit. I have owned a beautiful Gus Szamboti that the hit was not to my liking. I have hit with other Gus cues that did hit to my liking. I have hit with SouthWest that hit very soft and not to my liking and I have hit with Southwest cues that hit fantastic to my liking. I have played with and beaten players with names that most of you guys worship WITH a HOUSE CUE OFF THE WALL. I have played with house cues that played fantastic. The TRUTH is that the cue DOES NOT MAKE THE PLAYER... The player makes the cue more or less.. YES I do prefer some cue makers over others. Mike Bender is a REAL cue maker who produces an excellent consistant hitting cue. The MOST IMPORTANT part of the cue is the SHAFT.. MOTHER NATURE plays the biggest role for the hit of a cue.. Mike Bender among others uses ecellent shaft wood all around that GREAT 4oz mark. Cues with light weight 3.2 and 3.4 shafts with low ring growth is a good clue that that cue is not going to have a firm solid hit. It's simple physics,, you need energy to produce energy and the shaft is what is transmitting that energy. The best thing is too actually FEEL the cue and play with it if possibile before buying. Not all cues by the same cue maker will be best for you. just because a cue is a Southwest or a Meucci etc does not always mean that cue is going to play good or play bad for you. YOU BUY A CUE AS AN INVESTMENT as well as for it's playability,, if you want a cue that will always bring back its value or rise in value you buy a good hand made cue like a Mike Bender or a Southwest etc. If your looking to save money and don't care about an investment or losing a little money on the cue than buy a good CNC production cue like a Schon or McDormott. If your really on a budget and don't care about a future resale and want the best playing cue, then buy any cue that feels good to you that you can play with within your budget. Look for good maple shafts with some weight behind them (4.0 oz or as close) or use one of the layered shafts. Most of the hit comes from the shaft, ferrule and tip. The butt playes a very small part of the hit. There are great hitting joints of all types from the piloted steel to the flat faced wood to wood. I have played with both that hit equally as good. I have beaten the best many times in straight, 9 ball ect etc and well known. A good player will play well with most any cue that has a good shaft and the proper balance/weight and feel for that player. The cue doen't make the player. the player is BORN and will play great with a house cue. Personally I would go after the Bender before Capone and especially a Lucasi. The Bender will be you most solid investment and is an excellent hand crafted cue. Bender goes way back with David Kersenbrock and Jerry Franklin. Jerry worked under Mike. Mike is a great cue maker who uses good shaft wood. A Mike Bender is not only a consistant good hitting cue but is a solid investment. You will always get your money back or the cue rise in value if you respect and take care of your cue. But you can cheaper cues that hit just as good but may not be as good as an investment. I say buy the cue with the investment in mind and not just for the hit. The hit is important but so is the cues resale value down the road. Mike Bender is a solid investment and will probably be worth much more in the future. A Capone may be a harder resell but still a nice cue. Does anyone know a guy named Richard Chen from BC Canada (poolcuecollector). If you do please contact me. Thanks
Wonderlan
Click to expand...
 
Mike Bender Cue

JoeyA said:
Wonderlan, you said a lot of true things about Mike Bender and his cues. My Bender cue is worth more today than I paid for it three years ago and I have had offers to that effect but had forgotten about the re-sale value. I am not a collector but use cues to play with but I keep my open for cues that play as well as my Bender or better.
Still looking,
JoeyA
Click to expand...

Joey I personally believe that Mike Bender just may be the best living cue maker today. I also believe Bob Runde to be one of the very best cue makers. Both Mike and Bob make solid playing cues. Bob made some of the very best playing cues ever made with his orig Schon cue. Those old orig 1981 to around 1987 Runde Schons without the stained maple forearm with 4 ebony points and 4 veneers full spliced are really not very much different at all from the same period Gus Szamboti's... Gus was actually supplying Bob Runde with parts for those orig early Schons.. Some of the very best playing cues ever produced. If you can find an early Runde Schon from the early to mid 80 in good cond with orig shafts you most likely would have found one gem of a cue. Those old Runde Schons played just as solid as a Gus Szamboti and actually really honestly just as well made and really hardly any difference at all. Gus and Bob where some of best playing real deal cues of the time. Great 4+oz shafts and seasoned wood and a wonderful crafted tight splice that all equaled a great solid hit. Some of Both of their cues were a little backheavy but when you got a well balanced one to your likeing wow what a pleasure to be playing with a true fine instrument made by 2 serious cue makers for the serious player. You did not need a break cue when buying a Boti or an orig 80s Runde Schon. Gus said go ahead, break with your cue, you will not cause any harm to the cue. Currently Mike Bender is an active cue maker who STILL builds a cue just as great. Today I personally believe that Mike Bender builds the best cue for both playability and craftsmenship. Mike can build you anything your willing to pay for. Mike Bender JUST recently was one of the cue makers who attended and showed off his cues at the 5 star Ritz Hotel in Palm Beach FL... Mike ONLY made and brought 3 cues to that show for public sale.. Mike sold all three cues and you could have purchased a brand new Lexus and more for the actual selling price of those 3 cues... You think Mike Bender is a serious high end cue maker???? What cue maker only builds and brings 3 cues to a top end cue makers trade show and sells all 3 for the price of a brand new Lexus automobile???? Thats a serious cue maker.. Only 3 cues... all sold, go ask Mike yourself.. Mike Bender is a serious cue for the serious player and serious collector..
 
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